Opal Tower at Olympic Park - Residential Tower Evacuation

Discussion in 'What to buy' started by qak, 24th Dec, 2018.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
  1. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    6,776
    Location:
    ....UKI nth nsw ....
  2. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,100
    Location:
    Sydney or NSW or Australia
  3. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,110
    Location:
    Sydney
    That wasn't me . Mine was they had to pay me to take it off their hands .....

    I heard Datto decided , it was close enough to the city , but far enough West so he wouldn't loose his identity .

    Cliff
     
  4. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    6,776
    Location:
    ....UKI nth nsw ....
    That person who claimed you can buy a property for a dollar down was right..
     
    Terry_w and See Change like this.
  5. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,110
    Location:
    Sydney
    Problem for Rick Otten ( ex somersoft member and well know to many long term members ) was the Courts found against him and fined him ( and his companies ) $18 Million .

    Would have taken a lot of $1 houses to pay for the fine . Reality if he hadn't made that claim he'd probably still be going . Of all of the Guru's who were hanging around somersoft in the naughties , he , along with Keiran Trass , were the two I paid attention too .

    He gave me a tip at one meeting that was spot on ...

    Cliff
     
  6. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    2,842
    Location:
    Sydney
    Australian Background.... so that's referring to the natives of Australia?
     
  7. Cimbom

    Cimbom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,568
    Location:
    Back in Canberra!
    I believe it is people who were born in Australia.

    Apparently the owners have been quoted $6 million in legal costs to sue the builder on a no win, no pay basis. It's quite clever because the residents/owners could technically "win" but what happens if the builder then goes into administration? Would the owners still have to pay for legal costs while also not being compensated?
     
  8. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,100
    Location:
    Sydney or NSW or Australia
    It is likely that the court would require that the builder put up a bond of $M to cover a % of the costs (but not the damages).
     
  9. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14th Jul, 2016
    Posts:
    5,301
    Location:
    In the Tweed
    All to keep the Stamp Duty Cash Cow propping up the various state GovCo o_O
     
    np999 and dabbler like this.
  10. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    8,572
    Location:
    Sid en e - olympic city
    Yeah, that's more to the point, many would not want them at all.

    I suppose if free, and your willing to wear all the outgoings and any special levies and legal battles, it may be worth considering, I bet the land tax will not be reduced !
     
    np999 likes this.
  11. np999

    np999 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12th Sep, 2017
    Posts:
    102
    Location:
    sydney
    Some optimists think it's absurd for a 2br unit in opal tower to be bought for "just" $400K, as all these issues will be "somehow resolved eventually". Logically this is correct, and I strongly believe that: give all parties a year or two to sort everything out, and the building should be safe to live in.

    However, to a buyer who considers purchasing a 2br modern apartment, opal tower is a non-starter. Its reputation is tarnished, no one really knows how bad the issue is. Even after Icon/Ecove/NSW government all declare "proper repairs have been done", prospective buyers would still consider opal tower "damaged goods". Who knows if new issues wouldn't pop up in other previously safe levels in a few years? (Long term) renters would stay away from it too.

    If today a 2br unit in opal tower is offered for, say, $400,000, I wouldn't touch it. And I wonder how much the banks would value it when considering a loan application.

    I suspect no buy/sell transaction will take place in any opal tower unit this year. Existing owners know they'll make a huge loss this year, so won't sell; same for the Developer. The only possibility that can trigger a sale is if the owner is financially stressed and forced to liquidate, at whatever price. (and that price will be vigorously guarded to avoid causing a panic among other owners).
     
  12. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Apr, 2016
    Posts:
    458
    Location:
    Sydney
    May be bank wouldn’t give loan. This is how you make money, all bad images would disappear in 2 years time. That’s all. Make 100% return.
     
  13. AlexV_Sydney

    AlexV_Sydney Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    517
    Location:
    Sydney
    ... if building won’t disappear
     
    berten and Cheryl like this.
  14. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Apr, 2016
    Posts:
    458
    Location:
    Sydney
    Nope it wouldn’t. Being in the industry for years and referring recent academic publication, if building fall over they should have red flagged it. Building fall over is very least possibility. concrete strength gains for next 30 years from construction so it also helps. Also all these buildings are designed for almost margin of safety 70% higher than required strength against failure. All you guys panick is for servicing cracks, etc.. Don’t jump and buy based on my suggestion. Do your research before you make decisions.
     
    Terry_w likes this.
  15. AlexV_Sydney

    AlexV_Sydney Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    517
    Location:
    Sydney
    that was a joke.... but if you would like to discuss it seriously, are you saying that there are no cases in the history when a concrete structure collapsed even when it was certified as 'safe'? Or collapsed when applied forces were much lower than theoretical margin?

    As for regular investor, they can't do own research because it takes many years to get that knowledge about industry, then many years to get real experience, and then you don't have direct access to the information / site, you can only see / trust the news / reports prepared for public. So if a structure shows the signs of instability and other similar structures didn't have such signs, it's logical that's 'no go' signal for investor and 'sell' / 'not to live there' signal for home owners.
     
  16. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    13,439
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I must say I don't recall any cases in Australia to date. There HAVE however been some monumental stuff ups such as the Westgate Bridge so it's not to say it won't happen one sad day.

    The Y-man
     
  17. Speede

    Speede Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    26th Sep, 2015
    Posts:
    786
    Location:
    A wannabe Mexican
    Are you a Builder??? Engineer or??? Maybe you have inspected the building yourself and can tell us why it might disappear.....?
     
  18. AlexV_Sydney

    AlexV_Sydney Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12th Mar, 2017
    Posts:
    517
    Location:
    Sydney
    no
    yes (master degree only, shipbuilding, up to very large aircraft carrier building, longer than tallest Australian buildings)

    I explained it above - if a building shows some signs of instability and others don't, and there is no way to transparently know the causes of it, then just as precaution, I'll stay away from it, even if probability of that event is 0.001%. Why to take a risk if there are plenty of other investment options?
     
    TheSackedWiggle likes this.
  19. np999

    np999 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12th Sep, 2017
    Posts:
    102
    Location:
    sydney
    This is how outside commentators *talk* about making 100% return. If you had 400K in cash, and an unfortunate owner wants to sell today, would you *actually* fork over the 400k cash plus stamp duties etc to buy it?
     
  20. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Apr, 2016
    Posts:
    458
    Location:
    Sydney
    I will definitely get for 400k if that was sold before for million. However I would avoid the floors where cracks are found.. Retrofitting May eat some floor area. Will offer 300k for those struggling floor areas for 300% gain considering mkt is stable.
     

Build Passive Income WITHOUT Dropping $15K On Buyers Agents Each Time! Helping People Achieve PASSIVE INCOME Using Our Unique Data-Driven System, So You Can Confidently Buy Top 5% Growth & Cashflow Property, Anywhere In Australia